The Brig
by LightningRaider
Summary: A forgotten Spartan wakes in a prison cell, held by the remnants of the Covenant. He has forgotten much of his past that led him here, and struggles to recollect it. As he attempts to escape the Covenant ship that holds him, he fights against his past and himself and begins to realize who he truly is.
1. Chapter 1: Awake

"AAAUGH!" I shrieked as I spit out. My whole body thrust itself against the chains it was imprisoned upon. My last memories flashed back towards me as my eyes struck open and the smoky gas from my breath reposed on the glass in front of me.

_Congratulations Spartan 76, you have successfully survived augmentation, the 34__th__ to do so. If you would please walk this way. _The memory slurred into another one. _Spartan-45! Rai! Rai! Get back here! We have Insurrectionists flanking us from the left! Here take this! _Aghh! The memory again shifted. _Brutes to the left Rai! I need you to go up and secure that hill for me! Understand! BOOM BOOM BOOM! Aghhh! Rai, you must save the others!_

"ARGHHHHH!" I screamed again as my bare body thrust itself forward. I breathed out slowly, calming myself; I needed to get a better view of my surroundings. I glanced downwards, my neck chained to the wall behind me. I was trapped it seemed, imprisoned in a cell with only enough space for me; all my body parts were chained to the back of the cell. I looked forward, a small glass window sat where my face was directly staring at. It was foggy, due to my long breaths that discolored the seemingly green-blue glass. I was completely naked, and it was cold inside this small enclosure.

So how did I get here? I pondered my mind for my most important thoughts. My name was Rai, Rai-45, Spartan-45 of the UNSC. I had been trained on Reach, I fought against the Insurrectionists. The further my mind shelved through my memories, the more I forgot the reason I was here. With every second of thought I wasted, the cell grew even more exceedingly cold. "ARGH ARGH ARGH!" I shouted repeatedly thrusting my body against the cold glass and steel in front of me.

"Okay Rai! Let's think!" I shouted to myself, barely recognizing my own voice. I pondered again to myself, thinking hard about every last detail. Suddenly, my mind flashed into another memory, this time clearer and not slurred. I was in a line with my fellow Spartans, John-117, Victor-101, and others. We were donned in our full green-gray mottled MJOLNIR armor. Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson paced back and forth from one end of our line to another.

_"Spartans! The day has come for us to prove our strength! We have fought against the Insurrectionists! Chopped of the heads of those bloody bastards! But now we fight a greater threat, A greater threat that any of us would have ever imagined. In the years to come many of you will die on the battlefield, this will not be an easy war! But humans are the children of war and violence; we have been built and grown upon it. The Covenant will not have an easy victory over us. Remember Harvest! Remember the glassed planets! Fight for your survival Spartans! Fight for the UNSC! Fight for Humanity!"_

I shook my head, clearly recalling more of my story. Somehow, I had been captured by the Covenant. I didn't know how or why, but I would find out. Just before I began to lose hope, a loud alarm buzzed, shaking the cell. With two rolls on the floor, the cell doors opened and my bonds dismantled. I stood up slowly, my legs weak with limited use. They wobbled as I focused to step out of the now, fallen cell, and into the steely floor of the room around me. It was made of a steely grey metal, which covered everything from the small walls and pillars around the small room. There were cells similar to mine littered around, though uninhabited. I was still naked, and shivering with cold as my breaths turned to gas when I exhaled. The alarm was still buzzing, and I could hear a loud clattering of footsteps just above me, clanking on the thin, yet hard metallic surface. I looked to my right and saw a set of MJOLNIR armor hanging on a rack. My mind again drifted back to the time where I was given my first set of these.

"_Now this Spartans, this is a gift. It is the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, the strongest in the UNSC. You are super soldiers, and for that you require the best armor. It is a technologically-advanced combat exoskeleton system designed to vastly improve the strength, speed, agility, reflexes and durability of a Spartan in combat. It is the most advanced piece of tactical military hardware in human hands."_

I came back to the present, still gazing at the armor. Before I knew it, I had put it on; now looking like a true Spartan ready for action. The alarm was still screeching loudly, but I had almost disregarded it completely. Now where to go? I had to find a way out of this ship. There was what seemed to be an automatic door to the right, but I was wary of exiting through that, afraid that the enemy might stop me. Instead I looked up, seeing an air vent; one that I could easily crawl through even with my armor. I jumped as high as I could and grabbed the hinges of the vent, and they came crashing down with my weight. The loud alarm had masked the noise, and now that the entrance was open, I was free to go.

I climbed into the vent and crawled through the tiny passageway. Along the way, I could hear snippets of conversation in Covenant languages, confirming my suspicion that this was a Covenant ship. There were vent openings in the crawlspace that led to other rooms. I could see into them, but most of the rooms were empty except for the same steely gray cells that were littered in the room I was held in. I was too far away to see if there were any people inside of them, so I decided to keep going. After about ten minutes of crawling, I was able to finally see a room with living people in it. This room had two grunts, and a few cells, yet they were made of plasma and the prisoners seemed to be conscious.

"I could go in, but I don't have a weapon," I thought to myself. "Or I could release the vent opening, throw it as a distraction, and then go for the silent kill." I softly released the vent opening and threw it like a disc in the grunts' opposite direction.

"Mawan! Tawlakaka!"they shouted while they waddled towards the noise. This was my chance! I jumped down from the vent and ran in their direction. "Hraah!" they shouted, drawing their plasma pistols and firing at me. I dodged all of the shots, and picked up a grunt with my large hand. I bashed it like a rock upon the other one, who slowly slumped down and fell unconscious. I threw the other grunt against the opposite wall, which also lost consciousness. I was big, even for a Spartan. I stood at a massive seven foot, seven inches without my armor, and with it I was almost eight feet tall. I could take a harsher beating than any other Spartan and still survive. The plasma cell in this room held a live prisoner. An old man, he sat in his cell staring at me dumbfounded. He had many scars on his bare arms and face, and had a pale skin color. He was dressed in brown rags and seemed like he had been a prisoner for a very long time, based on facial features. There was a small blue button on the edge of the plasma gate, I pressed it and the gate released, relieving the man of his cell.

"Y-You," he stuttered, pointing a bony finger at me. "Y-You are a Spartan!"

"Rai-45, at your service."


	2. Chapter 2: Revelations

**Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It ends on quite a cliffhanger! I'm sorry for making it really short, but if it wasn't, the ending wouldn't be as good as it is. So enjoy!**

* * *

"But…but you're a Spartan!" he said shockingly.

"Don't worry about me," I said, offering him a hand. He grabbed and pushed himself up. He was extremely thin, almost near emaciated. "Tell me, what is this place?"

"You mean to say, you came to rescue us but you don't know what this place is?" he questioned.

_"Rescue, I have no idea what he's talking about. He probably thinks I came aboard on this ship to rescue him. But he said "Us". Who is "us"? I guess I should probably just tell him the truth," _I thought.

"I was in a cell before this, on this ship. Not your kind, I was unconscious till I woke up. I somehow escaped it and I saw my Spartan armor nearby, so I put it on. Other than this, I have no idea why I am on this ship, nor how I got here, and not even what purpose this facility holds," I honestly revealed myself to him.

"My god," he started. "Tell me the last thing you remember after you woke up on this ship."

"Okay, I'll try," I said, and pushed my fingers to my head, forcefully trying to remember any events.

_It was dark, the sky was dark. The once grassy ground was now littered with scrap metal and loose flame. "Run!" shouted somebody in the distance as a large hunk of metal rushed towards me. I jumped out of the way, and drew my knife and pistol. Two elites rushed at me with their Covenant carbines. I grabbed one of the carbines and plunged my knife through it, rendering it useless. The other elite almost fired his gun, but not before a pistol bullet went through his head. The elite with the knife through his carbine, desperately tried to tear it out of my grasp but another bullet was jammed in his throat before he could make a move. I continued to retreat along with the rest of the troops, as blaster bullets and pieces of metal rained down upon the frightened civilians and soldiers. I looked back for a brief second, and two brutes were hulking towards me like beasts. I heard a faint voice from far in front of me before I could engage them. It was John-117. _

_ "Rai, leave them Rai! This planet is over. Jericho VII is going to be glassed! Just follow us and get back on the Evac ships!" screamed John._

_ I spit out blood from my mouth that splattered against my helmet. "I can't John, the rest of the civilians must be saved. You go on, I promise I will join you," I said heroically. I drew my assault rifle and rushed towards the Covenants troops._

"Ah," I grunted as I returned to consciousness. "The last thing I can remember right now is the battle of Jericho VII. It must be a few weeks or so after that battle, I probably was imprisoned."

The man stared at me with wild shock, not saying a word. "So what do you think?" I asked him again. He didn't answer again, only looking more dumbfounded. "Okay, maybe you haven't heard about the battle of Jericho yet," I said, now feeling strange as to why the man didn't answer. "So how is the war faring?"

"Oh I've heard about the battle of Jericho," said the man in a dangerously deep voice. "I was there. The bloody violence, the death of countless civilians, and the savage Covenant attacks. It was rather depressing indeed."

"Wait, that's impossible!" I shouted, confused. "There's no way you can be in such a poor state after only a few weeks."

"And the war," he directly continued, not responding to my previous statement. "The war was long, and bloody. The largest humanity had ever seen."

"Why do you say _was_ and not _is_?" I questioned him again.

"I believe everything you said in your story," the old man muttered. "The only problem with it is…" he paused.

"_What_ is wrong with it?" I shouted, now angry.

"Both the war, and the battle of Jericho VII ended over nineteen years ago."


	3. Chapter 3: The Warden

Nineteen years, I just couldn't comprehend what the man had said. I had never expected such answer. I was bereft of _nineteen_ years of my life. The world began to feel cold, very cold as a sharp shiver run down my spine. I still couldn't believe.

"It can't be," I said, still in shock. "There's no way..."

"Oh yes it is, you just don't want to believe it. This place," he started but then choked on his last syllable. "They do things here, things to people. I'm not surprised that you don't remember, but more so because of the fact that you escaped."

"Where are we really?" I questioned.

"The Brig. At least that's what we call it. It's a Covenant prison for UNSC soldiers and officers; I didn't imagine a Spartan would be here. "

"Wait, I thought you said the war was over. Why are Covenant ships like this still operating?"

"When the war ended, around six or seven years ago, the complete Covenant hierarchy shut down. Still, it's hard enough to shut down a government, much less the entire empire, which stretches beyond humanities' grasp of the universe. These are the remnants of the Covenant, still wildly worshiping Forerunners."

"This is... a lot," I slumped down to the floor and removed my helmet. "I don't know where to go from this. To tell you the truth I've always had my orders given to me."

"Well, consider this another one. Give up and kill yourself now. "

"What! How can you say that?"

"Chances are, in a few minutes your head is going to be splattered on that wall or if you surrender you'll be lucky to be on the waiting list."

"The waiting list? What's that?"

"Oh you really don't want to know. Just give up now if you don't want to spend the rest of your life suffering."

"No, I can't," I said standing up. "I need to find out my past, even if it means I have to risk my life."

"Those are the words of an idiot, but if you really want to escape, I can help you."

"And what would the help be?"

"Take that armor off first of all, and wear those," he said pointing to a dead carcass in the room. "That's the prisoner's garb, if you want to stay alive. After that, we're probably gonna have to get in that sewage shaft an' pray to god they don't find us."

"Alright, we'll have to pray that this works. Anyways, I didn't get your name."

"Whitter, formerly Major Clive Whitter."

"Rai, Rai-45."

Five minutes later my seven foot seven inch body was cramped in a tiny shaft with a man almost half my size. I had donned the white garb of the dead prisoner and was watching the room with a nerve-wrecking nervousness. If I made too much sound the Elites would hear me for sure. Soon enough, I heard two loud footsteps walking in the room.

"Quiet!" I whispered to Whitter. He answered with a slight nod.

Two Elites came inside, fully armed with plasma rifles and grenades. One stood at the doorway, while the other one slowly paced around the room, looking for any clues. He picked up the MJOLNIR armor with relative ease, briefly looked at it, then tossed it aside. He did the same for all my pieces of armor, tossing them to the side like trash. It made me angry to see the years of hard work I had done in that armor being "tossed away" like garbage."

After a few minutes of conversation between the Elites, one of them stepped backward, placing his foot right on top of the sewage grate. My heart skipped a beat before he lifted his foot off and walked out. I waited a good ten minutes before climbing out of the grate, fearing the Elites would return.

"You can come out now," I whispered to Whitter who seemed deathly afraid with his eyes wide open.

"You don't want to tangle with that one," he said in spurts. "I've seen what he does to the prisoners."

"Well it's a good thing that they didn't get us, what's our next move."

Whitter eased up a bit, and then began to speak. "There's only one place we can go where they won't find us for a while."

"And where is that?"

"Follow me." Whitter stepped out of the room gingerly, and looked to see if there was anyone. He gave me the signal and I followed him as quiet as I could.

The hallways of the ship were bland, all made of the same gray steel. I may be a Spartan, but I still have my likes and dislikes when it comes to architecture. Whitter led me past hallway after hallway, as if he had spent his entire life in the prison. Finally, we came upon a yellow door with some Covenant letters on it. Whitter looked left and right before slowly pushing open the door, revealing a large hall inside.

It was remarkable, the entire room must have been close to half a kilometer long, and one fourth of it wide. It seemed to be made of a grey stone, unlike the metal I had encountered previously. It was filled to the brim with prisoners, numbering well over the thousands, all donned in the same costume as I. There was stairs as well as small towers where guards watched every prisoners move.

"Now, listen up Rai," said Whitter in a rushed tone. I need you to mingle in with this crowd for now, the Warden will announce when the jail yard will be closed, and after that I need you to meet me at that white column over there." He pointed towards a single white column that held up a ledge where a solitary Brute stood guard.

"Alright," I said. "I'll meet you there." I pushed my way into the dense crowd, yet I was easily visible, being seven foot seven inches. I remedied this by crouching my knees slightly, lowering my height by around nine inches. The crowd was filled with all sorts of humans; some that didn't talk and just looked dazed, while others congregated in small groups talking in hushed tones. Despite the large crowd, the noise in the room wasn't very loud, but was more of a collection of whispers.

After a few minutes of this, a large horn blared an annoying noise that bounced off the walls of the room. Almost instinctively, all the prisoners gathered in long rows, staring directly at a high raised platform. I moved with them as well, a little delayed, but not enough to attract the guards' attention. I watched with them as a tall Elite, most likely The Warden, dressed in dark blue armor walked on the platform, flanked by two other Brutes.

"Hello then, my friends!" exclaimed The Warden, in rather good English for Elite. He gazed the room and took a big breath of air, a sound that resonated through his microphone, "so how was your day!" he exclaimed loudly. The crowd remained silent, and I followed them in their actions. I was pretty close to the platform, as I was able to see everything in detail.

The tall Elite raised his armored hands high above his head and shouted even louder, "Anyone? Will anyone give me an answer?" The microphone screeched as everyone scrunched up their ears. The Warden let out a low evil laugh before pointing a finger to a small boy in the crowd. "You there, come up to the stage!" chuckled The Warden. The boy looked scared to death as he climbed the stairs to the top of the platform.

"What's your name?" The Warden questioned.

"E-Elijah S-sir," the boy muttered.

"So, how are you today E-Elijah," mocked The Warden. The crowd remained silent as customary, but not before The Warden screamed again. "That was funny people, laugh!" He commanded. The crowd let out a weak laugh before turning back to the boy.

"Once again, how are you?"

"I'm f-fine sir," he muttered again.

"Oh," The Warden said in surprise. He turned around for a brief moment, but then sharply grabbed the boys arm and, with a tremendous amount of force, slammed the boy right onto the ground. He picked up his foot and slammed it on the boy's outstretched arm.

"AUGGHHHHH!" the boy screamed.

"Now, don't scream, you're not entertaining my friends," said The Warden signaling to the crowd. "So let me ask you again, how are you?"

"I…am….fine," groaned the boy weakly.

"Wrong answer," said The Warden as he pummeled his foot further into the boy's hand. CRUNCH! A sickening cracking noise resonated through the room.

"AAAAUGHHHH!" the boy shouted even louder.

The Warden bent down from his elevated position, now almost face to face with the weeping boy. "If there's one thing I don't like, its liars," he whispered into the microphone. At this point, the boy was nearly unconscious, on the verge of death. The Warden turned to the two Brutes that flanked him. "Take him to the," The Warden paused and chuckled quietly. "Take him to the waiting list," he laughed. The two Brutes immediately ran over and picked up the unconscious boy, taking him off the platform. Without saying another word, The Warden walked off the stage as well.

The prisoners began to now leave the room, heading towards different doors that lined its premises. "The white pillar," I remembered and walked towards it. Leaned against it was Whitter, but clearly not as shocked as I was.

"That's the Warden," Whitter said unpleasantly. "Don't get on his bad side. Now follow me, I need to show you where you sleep." I followed Whitter into a smaller room, filled with prisoner beds lined up in rows. There were two sinks and mirrors that lined the other end. I walked towards one, now clearly seeing my entire body after I escaped. I was still the same young man that I was nineteen years ago. The crispy black hair, bulging muscles, and goatee remained from over nineteen years.

I let a smile catch on to the corner of my face, I hadn't changed a bit.


	4. Chapter 4: The Smuggler

It had been exactly one day since my escape. The prison seemed pretty simple and organized, just as I had read Covenant prisons to be. At five o' clock in the morning, all prisoners were to be awake and fresh. The prisoners either did menial tasks around the massive brig, or they simply waited in the prison yard. At 9 o' clock, the prisoners were served breakfast, followed by more task, mostly useless. Prisoners spent up to eight hours cutting blocks of metal with small knives, a task that could take them up to a month to complete. The blocks were then arranged to make life size statues of The Warden, which lay scattered throughout the prison yard itself. Every once in a while, an Elite or Brute would select a prisoner to accompany them, usually coupled with screaming and horror. Luckily, all I had to do was cut blocks that day, nothing more nothing less. Finally, it was time for dinner at 8 o'clock, lunch was not served. I saw Whitter from the corner of my eye while I waited in a massive line, and proceeded to talk with him.

"So what's the plan, have you got any information?" I asked eagerly.

"You think I run the damn place!" he shouted. "My goal in this prison is to live, and to live only. I almost was tortured until you stepped in!" The small crowd around us went silent as Whitter raised his voice. He scoped the room, and then turned back again to talk to me. "Look I'm sorry for yelling at you, the only thing I can offer you right now is some advice."

"Which is?" I asked.

"There is a young male prisoner, around twenty years old; he will have coffee brown skin and a black scar running from his forehead to cheek. His name is Pranav, the smuggler among us prisoners; he may have some information for you. You can find him over there," Whitter then gestured towards a darker corner of the prison yard, one that was covered by two intersecting balconies. Despite guards being posted on the balcony, they couldn't see under it, thus offering a haven to a smuggler.

"That's it?"

"Look it's only been a day okay, gimme a break. If you want to chase this fantasy of regaining your memory and getting out of here, I'll gladly help ya. I'll have some clues later, but for now you should talk to Pranav."

"Alright."

The meals were the same here, a mash of various vegetables and a black stew that filled the aroma of the yard with stench. The average prisoner tended to finish his meal before he or she even left the serving area, famished from hours of work, and as a result, no seats or tables were allotted. There was an hour however, where prisoners had a break.

I walked to the dark corner of the hall, passing undetected to the guards by walking on my knees. The density of the crowd was so thick that even the prisoners themselves didn't care to notice. Whitter was correct, a fragile looking young man with a black headband concentrated on a makeshift board of metal and stone, eyeing various pieces of metal on the board. Another older man played with him, rolling something between his fingers. Suddenly, Pranav picked up a piece from his board and placed it on top of his enemies' piece. His enemy removed that piece, and then proceeded to strike the same one with another one his pieces. Pranav then picked up a slightly larger piece, and then thrust his piece forward down the board. The older man's eyes widened while he clenched his teeth loudly.

"You lucky bastard!" the man whispered sharply. He handed over what he was rolling in his hand to Pranav, two white pearls. He then stood up, and left.

Seeming to only notice me now, Pranav turned his head towards me, revealing his dark scar.

"So my friend, what can I do for you!" he chuckled.

"I need you give me some information," I said in a much more serious tone, sitting down next to him.

"Information huh….." he paused. "Well then, what kind?"

"I want you to give me all the prisoner's records, where the guards are posted, when they are posted and this ship's destinations."

"Woah there buddy boy! You plannin' some sort of a revolt then aint ya?"

"Maybe, but I need the information now."

"No can-do sir," Pranav said while rising up from his seat. "The last time someone revolted, it was pretty messy. Anyways, can't help you big sir, goodbye."

I quickly grasped his fragile body with one hand and lifted his five foot, seven inch frame off the floor like a ragdoll. "You tell me where I can get the damn information, or I will kill you," I said threateningly.

"Woah! Woah, Re-lax my friend! We are all friends and family here aren't we? To tell you the truth, I would rather be killed on the spot right now, but what's the use? You wouldn't get your information, and lose every chance of you ever getting off this ship." I growled at the fact that he was right, I'd never get off this ship without his help.

"What do you want in exchange?" I asked calmer, putting him down.

"Looks like you caught on quick in that tiny little head of yours, now listen carefully if you want anything from me. Over there, by that pillar, there's a man with a bald head and a bag full of pearls. You get that to me without any trouble, and I'll give you what you need. Understand?"

"Fine," I said, walking out of the dark space. There had to be some way I could steal from that man, my height was so large that I couldn't simply just pickpocket it from him. Then, I had an idea. I looked down at my feet and there lay a spare glass bottle, left over from some of the water packs given out. I grabbed the bottle, and looking left and right to see for guards, I threw it straight into the middle of the crowd the man stood in. CRASSSH! The glass shattered in pieces, puncturing the various people surrounding him. As soon as the guards began to rush the injured away, a massive crowd gathered in the impact area. Then, in a wild idea, I rushed towards the man, grabbing his head and twisting my burly hands around his neck. He first looked shocked, and then his eyes faded way as I knocked him out. Nobody seemed to care that I had just knocked a man out in plain sight, they were too busy distracted by the glass.

I ruffled through his brown satchel, and found a wealth of white pearls that Pranav's opponent had possessed. I detached the whole satchel from the man's belt, and then walked back to the dark corner, now finding Pranav engrossed in a bottle of alcohol.

"Wait what! How did you get that?" I questioned him in surprise.

"In due time, my friend, in time," he said slowly, tripping over his words, clearly drunk, as he swigged another sip. I handed him the satchel, and he signaled with his finger to follow him. I walked down the dark shadow of the balcony over us, as an increasingly drunk Pranav led me. He finally came to a small shelf by the wall, uncommon for a bare open space like the yard. He glanced around, and then knocked on the shelf, which rapidly began to shift to the right, leaving a crawlspace barely large enough for me to get through.

"Well… walk right in…..Princess!" he spat, highly intoxicated, crawling into the pitch darkness of the crawlspace. I followed him cautiously, making sure he wasn't a piece of a Covenant trap. It was a tight fit, but I made it through, which led to a munitions dump room filled with guns, foods, and papers. Pranav was a smuggler all right and a damned good one for sure.

"Well then, this a bit of sometin' I put together in me spare time," he started. "I'll get whatcha need." He then looked into a barrel, filled to the brim with documents of all kinds. He wildly searched through the barrel, and then grabbed a "wild" paper from the barrel.

"Here ya go, sexy.." he said in a sultry pitch, still drunk.

"Get your act together Pranav," I said, and then grabbed the paper from his hand. It listed a large number of prisoners, each by UNSC name, then undecipherable Covenant letters. A section called SPARTANS lay below, and I quickly shuffled through each name, SPARTAN-029-deceased, SPARTAN-122-deceased, SPARTAN-130-deceased, and SPARTAN-45-encapsulated. My eyes opened widely as I saw my name, _SPARTAN-45-encapsulated, SPARTAN-45-encapsualted-SPARTAN-45… _I slumped to the floor as my head grew dizzy, and then blacked out.

_ "It was a small room, large enough for only one small light to be cast above me. Three elites, including The Warden, hovered above me. I was rested in a lowered chair, and strapped to the chair by strong ropes. I was knocked out; only my left eye remained open after a series of repeated beatings by one of the Elites. They conversed in a language foreign to me, but through their hand signals and gestures I could tell that they were discussing me. The Warden, pointed to my nearly lifeless body, and signaled to the other Elites to take me away. The grabbed my chair, and began to rush me out of the small room. Gathering every last bit of strength I had left in me, I shouted._

_ "NOOOOO! NOOOO!"_


End file.
